june 1940 — the filth of desires

One day, Baba called the "five Bangalore boys" and asked each, "What do you want? What do you want to do in life?"

          Raju said, "I want to go into business."
          Kalappa replied, "I want to deal in cooking oil."
          Amdoo said, "I would like to drive a tonga."
          Venkoba Rao said, "I want to be a farmer."
          Krishna alone replied, "I want you, Baba!"


Baba looked at him, gesturing, "I will give you Baba!"


He then informed Venkoba, "Wait for some time before you become an agriculturist."


Baba kept Krishna and Venkoba Rao in Meherabad. He sent the other three boys back home, after making arrangements for them according to their wishes. Baba smilingly remarked to Krishna, "You have fallen into a ditch! Now you will be in trouble."


Papa Jessawala was assigned to escort the masts Phulwala and Ramshish back to their villages and Kalappa, Amdoo and Raju to their homes.


Baba's remark to Krishna proved to have a literal meaning a few days later. All of the waste material from the masts' toilets was dumped into a large pit. One day it rained heavily, and the pit filled with water. Papa Jessawala told Krishna to empty the water from the pit with buckets. While cleaning it, Krishna slipped and fell into the pit. He shouted to Venkoba Rao, who pulled him out. Baba came by and saw Krishna covered with the filth. "Why were you cleaning the pit?" he asked. Krishna said that Papa Jessawala had told him to do it.


Baba became upset with Papa. "Why did you tell him to clean the pit without my permission?" he asked. Subsequently, Baba ordered Krishna to bathe sixteen times! He handed Krishna sixteen small stones, with which to count, so he would not make a mistake. After doing as Baba instructed, Krishna told Baba that his skin felt very tight. Baba went to the women's room and brought him some oil to apply to his body.


Baba asked Krishna, "Did you feel bad while cleaning the pit?" He replied, "No."


Baba spelled out, "You, yourself, are full of unclean matter. Do you realize that? Why do you live in such filth? Don't you feel dirty? Start feeling unclean because of the filth of the desires that cover you from head to toe, and begin to clean them as you have cleaned the pit today."

Lord Meher, 1st. ed., Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 7, p. 2566.

The Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust, Ahmednagar, India are the copyright holders of all of Meher Baba's messages, discourses and photographs, unless otherwise stated.

running onward toward victory

Conflict follows me relentlessly, it seems!

Today, I am just alarmed by sad times with friends who choose to insult instead of listen, several hours of really scary weather in my state last night—tornadoes which left several people dead, a missing handbag which holds documents I need really dramatically, ongoing troubles with money that leave me without gas for hot water and heat, and my almost constant concern about relocation to Africa as soon as I can clear up this mess a little bit.

In the midst of the whirlwind, while feathers of care and worry whip and whirl around me, while the tornado of opposition continues to howl, while authority figures who continue to demand respect are silently dismissed from my life, while I mourn my empty home and keep quiet vigil over the spirit of my estranged daughter . . . I am still at peace internally. I don't know how it is happening, truthfully . . . it's a shocking development in my life . . . but my mind is at rest within.

I am not frantic. I am not panicking. I am not regretful. I am not afraid. I am not angry. I am not hurried. I am not desperate. I am not lonely. I am not in any kind of terror. I am not on a hunt to rescue any "lost" ones. I am not battling any confused spirits, nor any of my own confusion. Today, I am just here, in a now that is simply moving through time and space with gentleness and steadfastness. Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai.

So, as the time passes on, and I simply do the next impossible task on my list and keep plodding forward, I can actually sense that there may be a light at the end of this tunnel. My eternal spring of hopefulness has not run dry!!! It never does. But, today, it bubbles and gurgles with fresh, sweet nectar . . . and I look so forward to that first drink on a shady corridor overlooking the courtyard, at my little desk, with my pens and paper, and some fufu waiting to be made with soup. Pray with me, please, that this simple fantasy is not a pipe dream as I pray continually for your happiness, peace, and transcendence.

Shalom.